Britain05 October, 20262 min read
Conservatives Pledge £10bn Britannia Shield Air Defence System At Conference
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Conservatives pledge up to £10bn over 10 years for Britannia Shield air and missile defence. System would integrate radar, command, and interceptor missiles to deter missile and drone attacks.
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£10bn Britannia Shield
The Conservatives will announce plans to build a £10bn British “Iron Dome” similar to Israel’s air and missile defence system, which the party will christen “Britannia Shield” at conference on Tuesday. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge will say Britain needs to be ready to defend itself from potential aerial attacks and that new investment was needed in advanced radar and interceptor missiles.
“They owe Britain an apology, not another lecture.”
Cartlidge will describe the pledge as “the most significant military programmes since the cold war” and will argue it is “totally necessary because of the threats we face”. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the Tories had an “abysmal record” of defending Britain during their 14 years in power, adding: “They owe Britain an apology, not another lecture.”
Radar, command, interceptors
The Conservatives said their “Britannia Shield” would provide an integrated network of radar, command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles, and would be capable of defending the UK’s critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories. The party said the plan would have three components, new advanced radar systems, upgraded command and control systems, and new interceptor missiles as well as counter-drone capabilities.
Kemi Badenoch said, “If a missile or drone is launched at Britain, we do not get a second chance to wish we had prepared,” and she added that “War has returned to Europe.” The Conservatives also said their proposal would strengthen the UK’s air defence systems as Nato allies have warned they are facing repeated Russian drone incursions, while the BBC said the Tories described their plans as “a British 'Iron Dome'”.
Funding and political fight
The Conservatives said the £10bn plan would be funded out of the defence uplift from their commitment last month to increase defence spending by more than £10bn a year to reach 3% of GDP by 2030. The BBC said the Conservatives described their plan as funded within their existing commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, paid for by welfare reform and reprioritisation of existing expenditure.
John Healey, who previously quit as Keir Starmer’s defence secretary over the limitations of his defence settlement, was described as now unlikely to set out when the UK will meet the target of spending 3% of GDP on defence until next year’s spending review. Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of “failing that basic test” of keeping the country safe, while the BBC said Streeting responded to the Tories by pointing to a “£17 billion hole in the equipment plan” and Ben Wallace’s description of Armed Forces being “hollowed out and underfunded”.